Equiso Smart TV Pro - Stretched Goals

What’s that? More? We couldn’t give away everything on the first day. Where’s the fun in that?

Our goal was to raise $100,000 on kickstarter to begin production, though, what’s really important to us after that goal is the support of the community. That’s why we want to say thank you with even more features. We have a new $99 pledge. The “Equiso Smart TV Pro - Stretched Goals “ pledge. Every time we hit our goal we give everyone in the stretched goals pledge even more features, for free. How’s that for saying thank you.

Pledges $39 and $55: CHOICE of Original Model (Ships August) or PRO Model with 1 GB RAM and additional rewards if goals are met (Ships October)

Pledge of $69: ORIGINAL MODEL ONLY! (Ships in August)

Pledge of $99: PRO MODEL! (1 GB RAM plus additional stretched rewards if goals are met) (Ships in October) *Can multiply $99 by however many Smart TVs you would like to order to get more than 1 Smart TV

@julian The stretched goals need to be met for them to be added to the $99, however it is guaranteed to have 1 Gb of RAM. The $39 and $55 pledges get choice of original or pro. And remember, original ships in August and Pro ships in October.

Last time I looked at this i thought i had it all figured out. But now that i have read it again i am confused, again. here is what i am confused about: the wording on the $99 reward says "Includes first four stretched goals." but not anything about "if we raise enough cash". do you mean to say " Includes first four stretched goals, if our goals are met." or " Includes first four stretched goals."? and what does this mean for $39 and $55 pledges? are they the same as the $99 pledge when it comes to what they get for their pledge?

@Irawan Tri Kusumo. If you are part of the early birds $39 and $55 pledge, then you get the upgrade for free. If you made a $69 pledge for the original and want to upgrade to the Pro, you would add $30.

@Leonard. Our original plan was to have early birds have the option to upgrade for $30 and still maintain their discount. Because of the confusion and to make or supporters happy, we decided to give the early birds the upgrade for free if they wanted it.

The stretched goals were setup to reward our backers for the more funds we raised. Without a large amount of funding beyond 300k, we couldn't produce a Smart TV pro with all of the features such as 1gb ram, wifi direct, BT 4.0 and 16gb HDD. That's why we didn't offer a fixed pledge because the more money we raise, the more we are able to give to supporters in the $99 pledge.

@Leonard Frankly I find your suggestion even more confusing thab Equiso's ever was. Giving every tier the option to add $30 for pro would essentially double the amount of tiers, doubling the confusion. Plus, early backers ALREADY get the choice of upgrading to PRO for free, why would they add $30? Although Equiso may not have worded it the best at first, I believe they have tried to right the wrong and get all information out there.
For anyone still confused about the tiers, here is the breakdown:

Pledges $39 and $55: CHOICE of Original Model (Ships August) or PRO Model with 1 GB RAM and additional rewards if goals are met (Ships October)
Pledge of $69: ORIGINAL MODEL ONLY! (Ships in August)
Pledge of $99: PRO MODEL! (1 GB RAM plus additional rewards if goals are met) (Ships in October) *Can multiply $99 by however many Smart TVs you would like to order to get more than 1 Smart TV
Pledges of $125 and $138: 2 ORIGINALS MODEL ONLY! (Ships in August)

I am with most of the people on this page. This is confusing and gets more confusing with each post. You should just offer a pro version no information about a stretch reward. Have a plain and a pro version. Offer early backers a $30.00 option to upgrade to pro and be done with it.

Announcmnt should be there will be a standard and a pro version , all units will be GB, only pro version have wifi an BT 4.0 any early backer can upgrade to pro by adding $30.00 to your pledge maintain the same level of discount originally offered. The pro version will also include ( add items here) We apologize to all of our supporters for the confusion of the stretch offer we should have made it easier to begin with. We want to give each of you the option to upgrade to the pro version at your original $14.00 saving on the standard award leve. Those of you that wish to remain at the original level we appreicate your loyalty just as much, we will try to give each of you a 1GB unit with out all the added software. You can change your pledge any time until we close on our KS offfer.

I am certain I missed a few items and some will not agree with me but this would be simplier and be less confusing. To be frank about this i have considered pulling my pledge seems like I will end up with an entry level product.

Also some people don't realize they can change their pledge at any time, so you can also make that clear, as I've seen in other kickstarter projects, that is not a well known fact. Some 69$ backers may not realize they can make the change.

I suggest you put something like Derek's summary in the main page and update, it's very clear.
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Being clear in a kickstarter campaign is more important than on the mainstream market where unclear marketing reigns.
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Thanks for this update.
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The 69$ pledge remains the best value balance. You might want to also make clear the practical capabilities of each model, so people know that the 512MB base model is enough for most people's needs, and the 1GB does not change the main experience (multimedia and most games).

@zippy assuming you mean Infinitec's project, I think you may have read their update on BT wrong. They are not including BT in this release nor are they making anymore hardware changes from here out. They _are_ going to include BT compatibility support for BT PnP dongles/devices.

I think I will give a go at summing up all reward tiers (from my understanding) into one post. Here it goes...
Pledges $39 and $55: CHOICE of Original Model (Ships August) or PRO Model with 1 GB RAM and additional rewards if goals are met (Ships October)
Pledge of $69: ORIGINAL MODEL ONLY! (Ships in August)
Pledge of $99: PRO MODEL! (1 GB RAM plus additional rewards if goals are met) (Ships in October) *Can multiply $99 by however many Smart TVs you would like to order to get more than 1 Smart TV
Pledges of $125 and $138: 2 ORIGINALS MODEL ONLY! (Ships in August)

@David Elliot - A previous post by Equiso mentions that you can select the $99 level reward tier and then increase your pledge value, in multiples of $99, for how many additional Smart TV Pro's you want. They might also want to do an update about that (if I am indeed not mistaken).

@CK LAM. Early birds have the option to choose Pro or Original. if they choose Original then shipment date remains August, if they choose the free upgrades and go Pro then shipment date will be October.

@Equiso - Very grateful for the update! A few questions, when you said 1GB RAM incuded, does this mean
1) early backers will get 1GB RAM when it ships in August?
2) If 250k target is reached, early backers selecting Wifi direct will get the device in Oct (same as backers 99)?

@Equiso, I am answering myself, but reading the comments section I see that early-birds will have the option to choose the plain or the PRO version on the day the project gets funded (July-28). Maybe write a bit more about the stretch goal in the pledge descriptions so that people know that the PRO version will include the 1GB, but will only include other features if higher levels are reached. It will also help to point out (even though it is there in the small print below) that delivery for the PRO version is October and not August; sometimes people miss the small gray letters bellow. I do think it is a fair challenge. I am also glad to have read that you have the August (not-pro) version very well defined and you are just waiting to push the send button on the manufacturing. I do agree also that changes to the specifications mean that you will have to test before you start manufacturing. Thanks!

@Equiso. I was part of the $55 pledge. If I read correctly your update, I don't have to add any $ amount because I am already part of the stretch pledge, right?
According to Kicktraq, you are trending towards $200K which is 200% of your original goal; that means that the 1gb-RAM is guaranteed, but not the others, unless the trend changes (which it usually does -for the better- after we hit the original goal).

Just to be clear: there is no risk of over-pledging! If the stretch goals aren't reached you just hit the big green manage my pledge button on the final day of this project and lower the amount (and obviously select the lower reward). Also works the other way around, i.e. If you have selected the 69$ level and goals are being reached you can allways adjust your pledge and select the 99$ reward. No risks whatsoever!

@Equiso. I understand that but as a consumer, they may consider the following possibilities.
1) Pay extra $30 to get smart tv compare to 69.
2) Pay extra $30 for 1GB ram upgrade only compare to 69.
3) Get wifi direct and so on.
I mean the backers have to bare that risk and this is not very encouraging. I think offering 1gb ram for backers(99) will at least encourage them to pledge at this level, so at least minimizing the risk of paying extra $30 for nothing.
One more thing, why the delivery date for this level (99) is Oct?

I think one of the main problems you're having here is that the Smart TV Pro ($99) is in fact the same product as the Smart TV ($69) _Unless_ you hit your first "Strech Goal" at $150K.

That means it's a $30 gamble to start. The Smart TV Pro _needs_ to be functionally better in some way at the off or there isn't any real incentive to pledge at that level until you reach 150K. Otherwise, I can't really see many people bothering with it as a pledge to begin with.

As a Early Bird I'm not impacted in the least, I'm getting a Pro version if you hit 150K, or the normal version I originally expected if you don't reach 150K; however, it does affect everyone else. You're current structuring won't help you achieve your funding goal. Funding is what you really want. Right?

As an early backer of the $55 pledge, I appreciate the confirmation that the $39 and $55 pledges would receive the appropriate upgrades (i.e. Smart TV Pro) depending on which stretch goals are met.

Would appreciate one more clarification - If the stretch goals are met, can these early birds still expect to get delivery of the Smart TV Pro with the appropriate upgraded features by August 2012?

Just want to get clarification since all pledges EXCEPT the new $99 pledge for Smart TV Pro introduced today have an estimated delivery of Aug 2012 whereas the new $99 pledge has an estimated delivery of Oct 2012? So am not sure if the Smart TV Pro's would be manufactured in time for early birds for August delivery.